ESPN believes Brandin Cooks will break out

The New Orleans Saints offense was one of the NFL’s scariest last season, thanks in large part to the break out season from second-year wideout Brandin Cooks. Now, his ceiling is limitless as he prepares for year three.

Wait, did he have a breakout season? 84 catches for 1,138 yards and nine touchdowns does suggest that, but ESPN’s Mike Triplett may not call those stats “break out” worthy. That’s because ESPN had reporters from each team predict a fantasy breakout star for all teams, and Triplett listed Cooks:

“The Saints’ third-year wideout had 1,138 receiving yards and nine touchdown catches (eight of them over the final nine games), but I’m putting him here because he still hasn’t made a Pro Bowl or become a household name.”

Fair enough–and there’s no point in debating the definition of “break out.” But Triplett is absolutely right about him not being that well known…yet. He won’t command the attention in fantasy the way guys like Dez Bryant, Julio Jones, Antonio Brown, Odell Beckham Jr. and Brandon Marshall do.

Triplett did also acknowledge to watch out for Michael Thomas, and he should be considered a late-round gem if anything else.

No doubt that Cooks will be the most attractive option for Drew Brees in 2016–even though Coby Fleener and Thomas are now on the team. He was far and away their top pass-catcher last year and will only get better with time.